Dad wins term-time holiday court case

Media captionJon Platt: “Is there really 100,000 parents who are so criminally incompetent that it warrants dragging them to court?”

A father who refused to pay a £120 fine for taking his daughter on an unauthorised term-time holiday has won a High Court ruling in his favour.

Magistrates had ruled that Jon Platt had no case to answer as, overall, his daughter had attended school regularly.

Isle of Wight Council had asked the High Court to clarify whether a seven-day absence amounted to a child failing to attend regularly.

The government says it will now consider making alterations to the law.

“We will look at the judgement in detail but are clear children’s attendance is non-negotiable so we will now look to change the law,” said a spokesman for the Department for Education.

“We also plan to strengthen statutory guidance to schools and local authorities.”

‘Wider picture’

Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Mrs Justice Thirlwall dismissed the council’s challenge, ruling that the magistrates had not “erred in law” when reaching their decision.

They ruled that the magistrates were entitled to take into account the “wider picture” of the child’s attendance record outside of the dates she was absent during the holiday.

Outside court after the ruling, Mr Platt said: “I am obviously hugely relieved. I know there was an awful lot riding on this, not just for me but for hundreds of other parents.

“I think it’s a very sensible judgement. It wasn’t a complicated matter.

“Ultimately the arguments put forward on behalf of the Isle of Wight council amounted to, as the judge spelt out, if he was to believe and take it to its natural conclusion… a single day’s absence from school amounted to a criminal offence.

“And no court was ever going to agree that that was what ‘regularly’ meant in terms of the Education Act.”

Tougher regulations

Jonathan Bacon, leader of Isle of Wight Council, said he was disappointed the ruling had failed to clarify the definition of attending school “regularly”.

Mr Bacon said government guidance had been that it meant attending every school day, but added: “Today’s ruling may be taken to imply that parents can take children out of school on holiday for up to three weeks every year.

“This will clearly have a detrimental effect on the education of those children,” he argued.

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Image caption
Mr Platt took his daughter on holiday to Florida in April last year

Since 2013, tougher government regulations have meant head teachers can grant leave of absence to pupils during term time only in “exceptional circumstances”.

Many parents complain that the cost of going away in the school holidays can be four times as much as during term time – but the government says there is clear evidence “that every extra day of school missed can affect a pupil’s chance of gaining good GCSEs, which has a lasting effect on their life chances”.

Florida holiday

Mr Platt, 44, took his daughter to Disney World in Florida in April 2015.

Her school, on the Isle of Wight, had refused permission for the trip but he took her anyway and she missed seven days of lessons.

Mr Platt was issued with a £60 fixed penalty fine.

After he missed the payment deadline, the council doubled the fine to £120 which he also refused to pay.